Courtesty/NHL.com

By Jesse Gill

SPORTS

Former Medicine Hat Tigers player Thompson named AHL Islanders head coach

Jun 23, 2025 | 11:22 AM

Former Medicine Hat Tigers player Rocky Thompson has been named the head coach of the American Hockey League‘s Bridgeport Islanders.

The 10th head coach in the teams history.

Thompson, a forward and enforcer spend four season with the Tigers from the 1993-1997.

He spent time as a player in the American Hockey League and NHL before entering the coaching ranks as an assistant with the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings during the 1997-1998 season.

He advanced to become the assistant coach with the AHL’s Oklahoma City Barons from 2010-2014, before becoming an assistant with the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers for the 2014-15 season.

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Thompson took his first head coaching position with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires in 2015, and coached their for two seasons.

From 2017-2020 he was the head coach of the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.

Thompson’s next stop was as the associate coach of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, a job he held from 2020 to the fall of 2021 before being let go.

Thompson spent the next three seasons as the assistant coach of the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers before taking on his new job.